Welcome to another Tuesday celebrating bookish events, from Tuesday/First Chapter/Intros, hosted by Bibliophile by the Sea; and Teaser Tuesdays hosted by Should Be Reading.
Today’s feature is one of my books for this week: How To Be a Good Wife, by Emma Chapman, an ARC from Amazon Vine.
Intro: Today, somehow, I am a smoker.
I did not know this about myself. As far as I remember, I have never smoked before.
It feels unnatural, ill-fitting, for a woman of my age: a wife, a mother with a grown-up son, to sit in the middle of the day with a cigarette between her fingers. Hector hates smoking. He always coughs sharply when we walk behind someone smoking on the street, and I imagine his vocal cords rubbing together, moist and pink like chicken flesh.
I rub the small white face of my watch. Twelve fifteen. By this time, I am usually working on something in the kitchen. I must prepare supper for this evening, the recipe book propped open on the stand that Hector bought me for an early wedding anniversary. I must make bread: mix the ingredients in a large bowl, knead it on the cold wooden worktop, watch it rise in the oven. Hector likes to have fresh bread in the mornings. Make your home a place of peace and order.
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Teaser: The glow of the shop emerges out of the lowering fog. My headlights make it swirl, the light losing itself in the opaque white air. When I turn off the engine, the silence is total. (p. 136).
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Blurb: In the tradition of Emma Donoghue’s Room and S.J. Watson’s Before I Go to Sleep, How To Be a Good Wife by Emma Chapman is a haunting literary debut about a woman who begins having visions that make her question everything she knows
Marta and Hector have been married for a long time. Through the good and bad; through raising a son and sending him off to life after university. So long, in fact, that Marta finds it difficult to remember her life before Hector. He has always taken care of her, and she has always done everything she can to be a good wife—as advised by a dog-eared manual given to her by Hector’s aloof mother on their wedding day.
But now, something is changing. Small things seem off. A flash of movement in the corner of her eye, elapsed moments that she can’t recall. Visions of a blonde girl in the darkness that only Marta can see. Perhaps she is starting to remember—or perhaps her mind is playing tricks on her. As Marta’s visions persist and her reality grows more disjointed, it’s unclear if the danger lies in the world around her, or in Marta herself. The girl is growing more real every day, and she wants something.
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What do you think? Haunting? Eerie? Crazy? I know I can’t wait to read it.
Fascinating book. I tend to believe her and not think she is hallucinating…
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I suspected as much, Harvee…I also wonder if someone is trying to make her “feel crazy.” I really hate when that happens. Thanks for stopping by.
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I’m not the literary type, generally speaking, but this looks interesting. It leans toward my beloved SF.
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Thanks, Alice Audrey…glad you liked the excerpt….enjoy your week!
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I like the sound of it!
Here is my post
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Thanks, Gautami…I am intrigued as well. Enjoy your reading.
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That last descriptive paragraph piqued my interest more than the teaser or any other part of the blurb. Enjoy! My teaser: Frankenstein
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Yes, I like it too…there is a robot-like quality to her actions. Thanks for stopping by, Heather, and enjoy your week.
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I’ll be curious to know what you think of it when you finish reading it. It does sound interesting!
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Thanks, Literary Feline…I am eager to read it! Glad you could stop by.
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Sounds like an interesting story. Great teaser. Hope you enjoy. Thanks for stopping by my site.
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Thanks, Cynthia…I am excited about the possibilities. Enjoy your week!
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I am very curious to know what has happened to her. I am drawn to debut novels as well.
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Thanks, Nise….I could not resist it…glad you could stop by.
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Wow! I want to sit down with this one right now–great opening and blurbs. Kelley at the road goes ever ever on
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Doesn’t it seem enticing? Thanks for stopping by, Kelley, and enjoy your read.
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Oooh…I want to read this one and even have an ARC. It sounds fantastic. Thanks for visiting my blog.
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Glad you could return the visit, Catherine…I like the sound of this one, too. Enjoy your read.
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The synopsis (a haunting literary debut about a woman who questions everything) certainly seems to ring true in these extracts! I wasn’t sure whether to be impressed or revolted or what when I read “I imagine his vocal cords rubbing together, moist and pink like chicken flesh.” Lol. This seems like a pretty interesting read! Marta seems like a very creative narrator. 🙂
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Yes, that part was kind of creepy, Annie…lol; thanks for stopping by, and enjoy your week.
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Creepy, now that’s the term I was searching for! 🙂
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Great teaser! I like the sound of this book.
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Thanks, Yvonne…doesn’t it seem intriguing? Glad you could stop by.
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I buy more books after reading your posts than for any other reason! This sounds like another good one that I’d enjoy.
Thanks for stopping by my blog and leaving a comment about my excerpt from PEACE BY PEACE.
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You’re welcome, Sandra, and thanks for stopping by here. I have the same problem after visiting your blog…lol.
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Like Alice, I tend toward more genre fiction, but this is certainly an interesting concept.
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Thanks, Shelley…I like to mix things up, so I tend toward a variety of reads. Eclectic? Glad you could stop by.
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Oh, wow, now I want to read it, too! That opening really drew me in.
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Oh, I’m glad, JoAnn…thanks for stopping by, and enjoy!
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I love how authors bring a scene to life. Thanks for visiting.
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Definitely! Thanks for visiting, Jo, and enjoy your read.
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That’s a very captivating opener. I already don’t like Hector. Yes, I’d read more.
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Oh, I felt the same way….and that “rule book” sounds like a loser. Thanks for stopping by, Margot…enjoy your read.
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That intro was quite unusual, and it begs one to read on I thought. Hope you enjoy it.
Thanks for joining us this week Laurel.
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Thanks for hosting, Diane, and for stopping by. I’m really looking forward to this one.
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Keep reading – I’ll be interested to hear what you think. This book got LOTS of publicity in Australia and has been on my TBR stack for ages… must get to it for my Australian Women Writers Reading Challenge!
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Oh, good to know, Kate…thanks for stopping by!
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It sounds like an automaton working. I dont know whether I’d like that.
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Yes, that’s the creepy thing about it…thanks for stopping by, Mystica.
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The title alone piques my interest.
Thanks for stopping by!
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I think so, too…you can just tell from the title that it’s going to be a bit weird….thanks for stopping by, Vonnie.
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This sounds fantastic! Thank you.
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Doesn’t it? Thanks for stopping by, Andrea, and enjoy your pick.
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